Praying

Did you ever play this game when you were a kid?  The commercial made it seem like it would be the best thing in the whole entire earth. 

  

My cousin had it and we played a few times.  I'm still not very sure how many "levels" there were or what the point was because it was insanely frustrating.  Pikachu rarely actually understood what you told it to do and then you just threw the microphone because you had plenty of time to gather the ingredients for the soup, but the dumb thing couldn't understand what you were saying.  

Anyway, the actual play screen looked like this. 

See that little guy with the bubble in the bottom right corner?  The bubble came up when you pressed and held the button to talk to Pikachu.  Press button, speak into microphone, release button, bubble flies over and tells Pikachu what you said (if I remember correctly).  Also if you held the button down too long the bubble would eventually burst.  

Well, pretty much every time I pray I have this image in my head.  I'm aware it's weird.  I think I've only mentioned this to anyone one time (and that may be an imagined conversation, I'm not sure).  Press button (Dear Heavenly Father), bubble forms as you speak/think your prayer, release button (amen), bubble floats off for your prayer to be heard.  And if you fall asleep in the middle of your prayer or get distracted because you are exhausted then the bubble bursts and the prayer doesn't work and you have to start over. 

The end.

P.S. I know that's not how prayer actually works. 

Buffy and Edward (I hate myself for this post)

As the title suggests, I hate myself for writing this post.  But it won't get out of my head so here it comes.

Over the weekend SyFy had a Buffy marathon (and it was a kick-ass marathon with all your favorite and most important episodes including "Hush" and "Once More With Feeling" and "Becoming" (parts 1 and 2), etc.).  Naturally I recorded everything I could (except for when a storm knocked out the directv for a few hours) and have been watching over the past few days.

And I couldn't help but think about this thing that was popular on the internet a few years ago.

And I just don't think it's right.  Buffy has a history of being lenient towards vampires with good intentions (like...Angel? he had a soul) even when they were actually kind of evil, but harmless (think our neutered friend from later seasons who I won't  name because I know Megan is currently watching the series).  That vampire didn't even have a soul, but couldn't hurt humans so Buffy allowed it (intentional gender neutral pronoun) to live.  

Anyway, if this was all real Buffy totally wouldn't kill Edward, literary quality aside.  She tries to do what's right and let live those things that aren't a threat to human beings.

And that is all. 

Like I said, this is embarrassing to write. Feel free to silently mock me. 

P.S. Buffy + Angel forever

Racism is a Sad Reality

Racism is a hot topic right now.  From the mess happening on Big Brother 15 to the Zimmerman trial.  The discussion is everywhere.  I don't want to talk about either of those things.  I want to talk about the reality of racism in every day life.

This is my dad.

He's a nice enough guy and a professional, but he's kind of scary looking if you don't know him.  He has the beard and his eyes don't open equally (Bell's Palsy).  He's large and when he rides his motorcycle he usually wears a leather vest.  

Once upon a time Dad was on his motorcycle going about 20 over in front of a school.  He got stopped and he was carrying a loaded pistol in his pocket and didn't have his concealed carry permit with him.  After asking him about his gun and why he was going so fast the officer gave him a warning and let him go. 

This is my brother-in-law Billy.

Tall, thin (but strong), well-groomed black man.  This outfit is as casual as he gets.  No kidding, Billy is FANCY.  

Nearly every time Billy gets stopped by a traffic cop they ask him to get out of the car.  Now, he's very careful.  He turns off his car, puts his keys on the dashboard and hands on the wheel.  He asks permission before reaching for his registration and explains exactly where his license is before taking his wallet from his pocket. 

Once in college he was handcuffed and held on the hood of a car (he still has some scarring from the burns) until the ran his ID and realized who he was. 

Now tell me racism isn't real.  Tell me these discussions are overblown.  No.  It's not ok that you're racist against a certain group because of where you're from.  It's not ok to use a racial slur just because no one from the group it refers to is present.  

I want to make it clear that I'm not saying we have to be ultra PC all the time.  I told my students that my brother-in-law was black and they told me to stop being racist.  That's not racism and that level of sensitivity needs to be eliminated, but this is a real thing that real people are dealing with daily.  And it's not fair.